Teaching honesty

[Keepworking]

How do you teach honesty to the kids? Do you ask them to always be honest whatever the circumstance maybe and to whoever they may deal with? What about white lies?

 

[Milt]

This is a very good subject. The main thing we do to encourage honesty is that we never punish when one of the children has done something we disapprove of but has been honest about it. We discuss it honestly, but we don't punish.

 

[Greendad]

It is a good way to encourage kids to be honest. Alternatively, you can still give a kid a punishment for his mistake but also give him an incentive for his honesty.

 

[Phillie]

You show them - I'm a big believer in leading by example. I am honest and therefore my son sees that I'm honest. You also tell them that white lies are lies and that means they are no good.

 

[Jonathan]

I think so. If you require your kids to always be honest, you should always be so yourself. However, some parents think it is OK to lie to their kids; they are just kids.

 

[Kost]

Children learn by experience and what they see, if you want them to grow up dishonest, be dissonant around them. If you notice more times than not, kids learn bad habits from people around them.

 

[Blended]

Leaning the kids to say the truth is something very important because if they think they can get away through life by "wiggling" you need to be the one to correct it.

 

[WagnerB]

Children learn by experience and what they see, if you want them to grow up dishonest, be dissonant around them. If you notice more times than not, kids learn bad habits from people around them.

I agree with you about kids learning bad habits from people around them, especially their parents. And an example is worth more than a thousand words. It applies to kids as well as adults.

 

[LeonR]

We do it with the ten commandments in our home. Then we build on that. I can't imagine rearing a family without the Bible. I don't think we overdo it. I'm sure most religions have guiding works encouraging honesty and truthfulness.

 

[Pascallist]

I am with you about leading by example. I know that there are times when we have to lie to the kids for their own good. Just don't unnecessarily lie to them.

 

[joeldgreat]

No matter how well I go as a parent, I can only strive to entail to our kids minds that they should weigh the pro's and con's of telling the truth or telling a lie. I don't encourage them to tell lies of course, but simply take the consequences of the actions they made. When I ask them about their exams, they can tell that its fine and got almost all the answers. At first, it would be great news to me. But, I see to it that I should be able to see the examination results. If they are telling the truth the first time I ask them, them its fine with me. If the result would be the opposite, then that would be a ground for grounding them.

 

[Enrique]

It's hard to teach honesty to children especially when they see TV shows that have people doing dishonest things, and getting away with it. We usually watch TV with the kids so when not- so-good behaviors are shown, we get to automatically point it out to them. I also agree with everyone about setting good examples.

 

[Betterman]

I agree honesty is very important. However, how do you explain the difference between being nice and being blunt? Someone may look silly in a new hat, but you don't want to hurt their feelings.

 

[Ifamily]

Yeah, children learn by examples. You know how sharp their memory and how good they repeat your sentences word by word? Anyway, I don't think you should teach the concept of white lies to younger children.